


Lle quena i’lambe tel’ Eldalie? (Do You Speak Elvish?)

by hinotoriii



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-08
Updated: 2015-01-08
Packaged: 2018-03-06 17:54:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3143345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hinotoriii/pseuds/hinotoriii
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As the snow falls heavy outside of Skyhold, Ellaria and Cullen use the day as an opportunity to lazily spend time with one another. After all, all of the Inquisition has more than earned a bit of peace by now.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lle quena i’lambe tel’ Eldalie? (Do You Speak Elvish?)

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted this over to my tumblr. Elvish phrases and words [come from here,](http://www.grey-company.org/Circle/language/phrase.htm) apart from the use of _ma vhenan_ , which is used in the game itself. 
> 
> I've tried to write this to keep with the lore of the Elven culture in the series, yet at the same time I imagine it's history to be a complicated mess that even some of the elves themselves can't understand easily. Ellaria knows what her clan has brought her up with, but I expect she would have realised just how vast the world really is and how big her history is once she becomes part of the Inquisition and meets characters like Sera and Solas -- whose opinions are somewhat different from hers. 
> 
> This is set at any point during the game, so there's not many spoilers. Just fluff :)

“And what does that one mean?”

“It means ‘ _my beloved Knight’._ Or well, close enough as I can get to saying it.”

Ellaria hears the sound of Cullen chuckling lightly at her words. His hands slide against the skin on her hips once more, a gentle caress that could easily be compared to a calming breeze upon a summer’s day.

“That phrase may need changing slightly. It’s been a while since I could be considered a Knight for anything.”

“I would strongly argue against that.” Ellaria counters, causing the man resting with his head on his arm beside her to smile.

“Tell me another one anyway.”

“Fine,” Ellaria says around a put on sigh, a thoughtful expression clouding over her for a second as she lets herself think. The corners of her mouth twitch in amusement, before she turns to Cullen once more with an amused look on her face.

 _“Llie n'vanima ar' lle atara lanneina.”_  

“Whatever you just said, it  _sounded_  like a compliment,” says Cullen. A grin begins to dance upon Ellaria’s lips, one which Cullen has seen often and knows always means some kind of mischief or trouble. 

“It shouldn’t do,” Ellaria replies with a laugh. “Because I just told you that you’re ugly, and your mother dresses you funny.”

She waits for the exact moment in which Cullen pauses, letting her words sink into his mind before finally bursting out into laughter. He gives her an odd yet fond look, smile rising once more at the clear amusement radiating off of the woman. Cullen shifts in the position of where he’s laying beside her on the bed, slowly treading both of his hands up close to her ribs before he began to start tickling her.

“No, no, stop! Stop it!”

Ellaria manages to speak between her own laughter, a sound which is like music to Cullen’s ears and one which he hopes he will always be able to hear from her. Her eyes are closed, the sensation of tears tickling against her lashes. Cullen continues to tickle her for a little while longer, but when he hears her trying to catch her breath in between the melodic sounds leaving her lips, his hands slow and slide back down just above her bare hips.

“That, was mean,” Ellaria huffs out between breaths. The bright smile that remains on her face speaks differently however, and Cullen finds himself smiling wider just at the simple sight of it. “You should consider that phrase a gift. You can always mutter it under your breath when those messengers of yours irritate you too much again.”

“I’ll keep that in mind for the future,” Cullen replies, giving a small shake of his head as he settles back down beside Ellaria’s side once more. He pulls her body closer to his own, leaning down to press a light kiss into the crown of her hair.

“Here’s one that suits you better,” Ellaria says, nuzzling closer against Cullen’s chest. His arm moves to wrap itself around her, holding her in a warm embrace. Considering the cold of the falling snow outside – a common occurrence this type of year when you’re living in a castle within the mountains – Ellaria is glad for it. 

_“Cormlle naa tanya tel'raa.”_

Cullen watches her with both caution and curiosity, wondering what the words she had just spoken meant. Ellaria slides her own hand to press it against his chest, resting the palm of it over where his heart rested.

“That roughly translates into your tongue to say  _‘your heart is a lionheart’_.” Ellaria pauses, warmth shining within her eyes as Cullen rests a hand over her own. She feels the heat of a light blush dusting against her cheeks, yet as she watches Cullen Ellaria notices that the man’s own cheeks have darkened into a deeper colour for his bashfulness. “I think it’s a pretty accurate truth for you, my lion.” 

Beneath where her fingertips are pressed against him Cullen feels as if his heart expands, a love he hadn’t expected to exist before meeting Ellaria seeping through his veins at her earnestness. He gives her hand a small squeeze, sliding his fingers between hers so that he could lift her hand up and place a kiss against her knuckles. Ellaria let’s out a contented sigh at the action, closing her eyes blissfully. 

Ellaria’s thoughts float in her mind, most of them calm and contented. There is one, however, that shines brighter than the rest; a thought which had made it’s presence known since they had started this game of sharing words and phrases between one another. For some reason it simply won’t leave her thoughts, and so instead of attempting to see if it would eventually pass like she had previously been doing, Ellaria searches for how to put her question into proper words.

“Why is this suddenly of importance to you?”

Above her Ellaria can feel the way Cullen shifts his head to one side so as to look at her, and after a moments pause Ellaria lifts her own to stare back at him. She sees confusion clouding his eyes, and Ellaria responds by smiling patiently.

“What do you mean?”

“This,” Ellaria asks softly. “Elven language. It’s not something that’s particularly common these days, after all. In fact, I think some would consider it … well a little bit dead, for the most part.”

Cullen watches Ellaria curiously again for a moment, her patience continuing to run strong. After a long breath of silence passes between them he rests a hand gently against her cheek, caressing it softly whilst watching as she moves into the motion almost instantly. He thought Ellaria was something alike to a precious gem, actions reminiscent to a contented kitten in the movements she made then, and Cullen wants to treasure the image she makes before him always.

“When we first started … this,” He begins, scrambling through his mind for the correct words to properly explain what it is he is trying to tell her. “You approached me about the nature of our relationship. I remember you asked me if we were something serious, and if the fact that you weren’t human bothered me or if I’d had concerned thoughts about how it might affect us. 

“I wasn’t lying when I told you then that it never occurred to me, that it was never an issue. But I could tell that you were still questioning yourself. You might not be so much now, but there was still doubt in the beginning.

“After you’d brought the question up, I knew once you’d left my office that day that I was thinking quite the opposite to what you were asking me. I wasn’t worried or concerned about the differences between us; I was in wonder of them. I still am. I want to know everything about you, to learn everything about you. I want to know your strengths, your weaknesses, what makes you laugh and what doesn’t. I want to know it all. And a part of that includes your heritage.

“I want to know more about you and your people, Ellaria,” Cullen says, voice smooth and earnest. “I want to know the traditions you have that are different to the traditions I have, your values and your beliefs. I thought a good place to start could be understanding a little bit about your language.”

When he finishes speaking, Cullen realises that Ellaria is unusually silent. He glances down at her again, quickly picking up on the way Ellaria is looking back at him in a way that looks something like wonder to him. She finds herself speechless for a short time, trying to find her words so she can respond to the unexpected honesty she had been met with. Eventually she settles for letting out a small breath of a laugh, sinking further into the comfort that surrounds her. 

“Perhaps not the best place to start learning,” Ellaria replies softly. The playful tone laced in her words from earlier is more or less gone now, instead replaced with sincerity and a slight touch of seriousness. “As I said before, it’s pretty much thought to be a close to dead language in this age compared to others.”

“Why, though?” Cullen asks, brow creasing slightly. “I mean, I’ve heard it spoken before, by other elves. I had always assumed it was used often.”

Ellaria let’s out another light laugh.

“Among the Dalish, it is,” She says. “But our language isn’t full or complete anymore. It’s … a lot of it is phrases and words that have been passed down or rediscovered once more, mixed up between the more common human tongue. It’s been that way ever since the  _Elvhenan_ first fell to Tevinter.”

“And that’s when the enslavement began,” Cullen adds, words more a statement than question. Ellaria nods.

“We have lost a great deal from the days of our Ancients. Language, lore, literature … most of it is now gone. Over time clans like the one I belong to have emerged and tried to collect what we can back, trying to build a foundation from our history’s remains. For example us Lavellans’ usually travel through the wilderness, passing down what we have to others so our heritage is somehow kept alive.”

“Somehow, that doesn’t sound as easy a feat to accomplish as it seems.” Cullen comments, watching Ellaria attentively as she speaks. She shakes her head in reply, her gaze falling as she absentmindedly traced invisible patterns into Cullen’s arm.

“Things are much different now. Our culture is very divided. Some wish to continue to preserve and try to bring back the days of old, whereas others are more content to move forward and make a new path for our race. Either way, I very much doubt that they’ll come to one common consensus.”

Ellaria stops, looking back up at Cullen again as her words fade. As she does he reaches up to brush a piece of stray hair away from her face, his expression thoughtful as he continues to watch her.

“So what you’re saying …” He begins, letting his fingers continue to run through Ellaria’s hair for a moment longer. “Is that your language is at most just as much a mystery for you as it generally is for me, is that correct? Apart from those phrases and words you’ve been brought up to know and understand, of course.”

Ellaria smiles, her lips stretching just so that Cullen can say a little of the whites of her teeth. She let’s out a little chuckle, tilting her head to one side curiously as she considers him.

“You really do have an interest for this, don’t you?” Ellaria asks, amusement laced into her tone. “I haven’t bored or confused you yet have I? Elvish history can get rather confusing, after all. Even I have trouble understanding most of it – and I know Sera does too.”

“How could I possibly get bored when you’re the one explaining all this to me?” Cullen laughs, chest rumbling tight against Ellaria’s side as he does. “I enjoy hearing you talk more about your past.”

Ellaria hums, finding herself somewhat relieved at the answer. She likes when they have the opportunity to talk like this, to share each other’s histories together in the spare moments of privacy they had with one another.

“If it interests you that much, I could always see if we have any books hiding around about the parts of the language that  _has_  been recovered,” She pauses, looking up at Cullen questioningly before continuing. “I know Dorian’s been archiving part of the library again, I could ask if he’s ever come across anything.”

“You do that, and you know as well as I do that he’ll try and teach himself the language somehow,” Cullen says.

“Probably,” Ellaria responds, her smile bright once more. “But he’d enjoy it, you know how he loves reading. Anyway, what do you say? Want me to see if I can find some for you?”

“Welllll,” Cullen begins, drawing out the word as he feigns a thoughtful expression. Ellaria watches as he lifts a hand to rub against his chin, resisting the urge to raise an eyebrow at him as she waits for the response. He glances at her out of the corner of his eyes, smirking suddenly. “I  _could_  always do with more reading material, especially now we’re not worrying about an ancient magister attempting to wreak havoc on the world.”

“I’ll take that as a yes then,  _ma vhenan_.” Ellaria says around more light laughter. Cullen’s expression grows softer, his eyes brighter. He reaches for Ellaria’s hand, intertwining it with his, before pulling her against him as close as he possibly can.

“Now  _that one_ , I know,” He says, leaning over Ellaria slightly so his lips are brushing against hers. “Didn’t you mention something about us not leaving this room for the rest of the day?”

“ _Cullen,_ ” Ellaria sighs, pressing her lips against his and effectively silencing him. 


End file.
